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 Crows have always had a bad
reputation. In movies and
pictures, the black birds have always been linked to spooky, frightening scenes. If you see one that
you think might be looking right at you, it’s not just in your imagination. Turns out that
crows have excellent memory and can remember the faces of human beings
for years!
Crows have remarkable memory and they
can recall the faces of humans
for a minimum of 5 years and longer. Adult crows typically live 15-40 years
in the wild. That is a long time
to remember human faces! Now, the important factor is that crows usually
focus on the faces of humans
that threaten them. An example
of this is a test researchers did at the University of Washington's
School of Forest Resources. A team member wore a unique-looking mask and then
trapped and tagged 7 to 15 birds before
releasing them. The released crows immediately formed an angry
“mob” around the masked human
and cawed vigorously.
 Information
about a negative experience with a human being appears to spread very quickly
through the neighboring crow communities. A particular human that threatened
or hurt them will be known to all the local crows in the area and
pursued with loud “scolding” which attracts other crows to join
in. Crows from over a mile away from the original incident have been seen to
mob together for the scolding.
Other social, long-lived animals that live close to humans, such as coyotes, raccoons,
pigeons, and rats also share information like crows about their encounters and experiences
with people. The study seems to act as a reminder to be kind to the
animals that are trying to coexist in the world with
us. |
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